I'd Rather Deal With Ghosts Than People
by Falling Fandoms
Summary: Pre-series. Sam is a sophomore in a small town school, and he's hoping that it's better than the last school. When there is only one girl in his classes that tries to talk to him, an unlikely friendship is born. She doesn't have anything to do with the supernatural and Sam can't stay away from creepy buildings. Will they remain friends or will she not want anything to do with Sam?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey! This is the first chapter in my multi chapter fanfic! I plan on updating weekly, but if I can I will update sooner! I've just written one other fanfic, so if you have any ideas on how I could improve my writing, I would gladly appreciate that. I don't own anything, sadly enough, but if I did, we wouldn't be on break right now. The first few chapters are mainly to help build the story setting, and once again if anyone has any ideas how I could improve the story, leave a review!**

"Sammy!" Dean threw a pillow at the lump occupying the second motel bed.

Sam pulled the covers from over his head, which revealed a shaggy mess of brown hair. "Dean, what's going on?"

Dean looked up from tying his boots, which looked like they've been through too much to belong to a twenty year old. "You're going to be late Samantha, that's what. There isn't a bus that comes down by the motel, so I need to drive you."

Sam got out of the bed, and looked at Dean. Being too busy to notice Sam's glares at his back, Sam cleared his throat.

"What?" Dean turned around so he was straddling the motel chair, and rolled his eyes.

"You know that Dad could have brought us for the hunt." Sam gave his brother a full force bitch-face and crossed his arms.

"You're kidding, right? The last hunt resulted in you being thrown into a wall, and bruised your entire back. Yea, think again Sammy." Dean stared at Sam, and jerked his thumb at the bathroom.

"Get a shower Sam, I'll be back." Dean grabbed his keys to the impala as Sam moved toward the bathroom.

Sam locked the door and sighed. He slowly pulled off his night shirt, reveling a colorful array of bruises on his back. They still did hurt, but he was grateful he didn't break anything. That would have been a pain in the ass. The cold water poured over Sam as he got in the shower, but he was too used to it to complain. He heard Dean come back into the motel room, and turned off the water.

"I got breakfast Sammy." Dean shouted through the bathroom door, and sat back down at the table to eat.

Rolling his eyes, Sam exited the bathroom to get dressed. "Is everything set at the school, or am I sitting in the office again until they put me into classes, again?"

Dean reached over and pulled a paper from his duffle bag and put it on the table. "All set. Schedule is over here then."

Sam walked over to the table as he was pulling on his jacket.

"They didn't have Latin?" Sam looked at Dean expecting an error in his schedule.

"No, it's some small-town that I'm sure nearly everyone is related, so don't have too high hopes." Dean looked at Sam, but continued when Sam was giving him his puppy dog eyes. "We're going to be here for a month, at most Sammy, and you are great at Latin, don't worry."

Dean glanced at his watch and handed a sandwich to Sam. "Let's go."

Sam reluctantly put his backpack over his shoulder and followed Dean out to the impala.

* * *

"I'll pick you up at the end of the day, okay?" Dean leaned out of the car while Sam was getting out. "And if there's a problem call me."

Sam rolled his eyes as he slammed the impala's door shut. "Fine, bye Dean."

"By Sammy!" Dean rolled away from the student drop off zone, leaving Sam alone.

He turned towards the tan brick school building, rolled his shoulders, and began walking inside. His first class was social studies, which was one of his favorites, and hoped that it would help him get better acquainted with all of the other students in his classes. There was a group of girls standing outside of the classroom, crowding the door and laughing about something.

"Is this Mister Byrne's class?" Sam tried looking for the room number, but it was blocked by the girls. One of them, a short, blond noticed him and broke into a huge smile. Sam could tell it was forced, but he played along.

"Hi, I'm new here is this Mister Byrne's class?" Sam grinned at her, but she started laughing.

Discouraged, Sam looked down the hall in hopes of seeing a teacher, but it was obvious they were in their classes already.

Another girl came rushing down the hall, and nearly ran into Sam, earning louder laughter from the group of girls.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry." She reached down to pick up the book she dropped, but Sam beat her to it.

"Hi, I'm sorry, uh, is this Mister Byrne's class?" He handed the book over to the girl, and hoped to get a better answer than the other girl.

"Yea, right inside the door here, but he's normally late." The girl rolled her eyes, and stuffed the book into her purse and looked up.

"Hi, I'm Natalie. You must be the new kid." Natalie's big blue eyes were searching, but friendly.

"Uh, yea, Sam. I noticed that was 1984, did you finish it?" Sam hoped that she wasn't just carrying around the book, but by the way her eyes light up, he figured she read it.

"Yea, I just finished it the other night. I'm hoping to get a chance to run down to the library today to turn it in."

Sam loved how easily it was to hold a conversation with Natalie, because they've read mostly the same books and she seemed like many people didn't ask her about them. A few minutes later, the teacher came down the hall and unlocked the door. Sam excused himself from talking to Natalie and went over to Mister Byrne.

"Hello, I'm Sam Winchester, the new student."

"Hey Sam, there isn't a seating arrangement, sit where you want, and we're watching a movie about the civil war." Mister Byrne went into the class room, leaving Sam to follow.

Sam saw that there was an empty seat next to Natalie and she motioned her over. Sam surveyed the class and saw it was mainly made up of jocks and prep girls. He sighed and remembered how much Dean hated them.

"This is going to be great." Sam slumped further down in his seat, only paying slight attention to the movie.

* * *

The rest of the day passed like first period for Sam. Slow, boring, and uneventful. He found out that he shared most of his classes with Natalie, including lunch. They sat with two other girls, named Anna and Isabella, and a boy named Chris. They mostly discussed the new movies that were coming out and a show called 'Doctor Who'. Sam loved listening to Natalie talk, because she had a Boston accent, and it was cute how she would say her words. At the end of the day, he went over to look for Dean, and said bye to Natalie. He watched her medium length straight, brown hair blow in the wind, only some of it being held down by her Batman backpack. He found Dean's car in the student parking and hit the window. Dean unlocked the door and Sam slid in the passenger seat.

"How was school, Sammy?"

"It's Sam, Dean." Sam looked out the window and saw Natalie sitting on the bus. He waved, and she smiled at him.

"Who's that?" Dean tried to look, but was forced to pay attention to the road.

"Natalie, she's in my classes, and seems to be one of the only people that aren't assholes here."

Dean smirked and sped up the car, while turning on some music. "Well, on the bright side, we are only going to be here for a month, tops. Then we'll find a better school and stay there longer."

Sam rolled his eyes, but stayed quiet. He was just happy that sophomore year was starting to look brighter than the first month.


	2. Chapter 2

That evening, Sam and Dean went to a bar and restaurant. It was crowded and smelled like warm beer. Dean didn't seem to mind and was currently trying to pick up the waitress. Sam rolled his eyes and hoped that Dean would just order. The waitress was giggling loudly when she left to put their orders in, and dean was folding up a piece of paper.

"Seriously?" Sam looked at Dean and crossed his arms.

"It's not like I'm planning on doing anything, you know that. It's the beginning of the week." Dean smiled and relaxed, but kept an eye on the door. "So how's this new school?"

"Boring, in social studies we're just watching movies, and Natalie said that's really all we do. Science is alright, I've had better. Math is fine. The English teacher is my favorite, though. She knows what she's talking about, unlike the last teacher." Sam shrugged and looked back toward Dean, and continued. "What'd you do during the day?"

"Dad has me looking up some stuff about a hunt that he's on." Dean smiled as the waitress came back and gave them their drinks.

"Oh. Where is he?" Sam narrowed his eyes and leaned forward.

"A few hours away, I told you Sammy."

Sam relaxed at the statement and turned to look out of the window. "Oh, yea."

"You know that dad didn't want you to get hurt on the trip, Sammy. Don't be such a princess about not going."

"I'm not being a princess about anything, Dean. I think he just doesn't want me messing up. Again. Instead of dumping us at some crappy town and not hear from him for a month, he could just let us go, and live some apple-pie life." Sam rolled his shoulders and sat back in the booth.

Dean was interrupted by the waitress coming over and serving the food, and Dean began eating immediately. Sam thanked her and looked back at Dean.

"You can't avoid the fact that I don't want to hunt forever Dean."

Dean shrugged at Sam and looked out to the bar to watch the game on the screens.

* * *

Sam got to social studies with a lot more ease than yesterday, but the school was small, so it wasn't too hard to remember where everything was. The class was waiting outside again, so Sam looked around for Natalie. Sam laughed when he realized that the shirt she was wearing was a Batman shirt and thought Dean might like her.

"Hey Sam!"

"Hey Natalie." Sam leaned against the wall, and turned toward her.

"How's school?" She copied his movements and grinned.

"Fine, I have two study halls, when you're not in my class. What do you do then?"

"I have art and French."

Sam grinned and realized that she did look like a drawer, and the paint on her arms yesterday would be explained by the class.

"What do you do in the art class?"

"I'm painting a portrait of one of my cats right now, but next we need to do scenes, and I think that I want to go to the old school and get some pictures of the rooms and then paint them." Natalie looked lost in her thoughts, and Sam followed her gaze.

"How do you plan on getting pictures of the old school building? Isn't it locked?"

"Easy. Back door, no cameras, always unlocked. Teachers have told me about it. People break in all the time." Natalie shrugged her shoulders and looked back at Sam.

"Why? Have a problem with breaking and entering?"

Sam grinned and wished that he could tell her about all the times he and Dean have broken into houses and buildings. "Na, just wondering. You don't really look like the type of person to do that, that's all."

Mister Byrne came into view and unlocked the door, allowing the class to fill up. When Sam took his seat, he noticed that some kids were staring at him.

"Hey Sam! I saw your brother drop you off and pick you up, what about your parents? Do they not want you, 'cuz I wouldn't either." The boys sniggered and more turned to look at him.

"In that crap car of his? Atleast you could buy something classier." A girl smirked at Sam and turned back to her friends.

Mister Byrne wasn't in the room and Sam had a sinking feeling he wouldn't be for a few more minutes.

"How about you fuck off."

Sam turned toward Natalie and looked at her. Her eyes were icy, not the normal friendly stare, and Sam had the feeling he should be running away from her. The class got silent and they were exchanging glances at one another. Sam looked back over to Natalie, but she resumed her drawing. Mister Byrne entered the room, and the class went back to watching the movie, but Sam could tell that Natalie was still angry, and wasn't paying the slightest attention to the movie.

* * *

After class Sam stayed behind with Natalie, and prepared himself for her to yell at him. Natalie noticed the look on his face and smiled.

"What are you doing?"

"I just thought, that, uh, you would yell?" Sam scuffed his boot and looked back up.

Natalie laughed and grabbed her books. "Ha, not today, sorry."

Sam shrugged and followed her out the door.

"Well, it's just, I figured you were mad, so you would yell."

"Sam, if anyone would be mad, it'd be you." Her eyes showed that she meant to help, and Sam was grateful for that. "If you don't mind me asking, where are your parents? I mean, yesterday, Missus Brown asked you if you might be able to become a tutor for math, and you said that you'd need to ask your brother."

"My dad's job moves around a lot, and my mom died when I was a baby." Sam hoped that Natalie wouldn't leave him and try to be friends with someone with a less screwed up family, but she didn't say anything. They walked in silence until they got to Natalie's locker, and she turned to look at him.

"That car's not a piece of crap, either. I think that old cars are amazing. I wish that they had better gas mileage, though. I hate that they only run on ten miles a gallon."

Sam smiled "Well, you and Dean both. He loves that stupid car more than anything, but we spend so much on gas." Sam didn't need to tell her that it was illegal credit card scams that paid for them.

"Oh shit. I didn't ask Dean about that tutor thing either." Sam grinned and looked at Natalie.

"Just lie. Say you don't want to do it. You just moved here, so don't worry about it."

"I didn't want to do it anyway." Sam smiled. "What were you saying about that old school?"

Natalie looked surprised that he remembered about that, and responded with "It's where sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth grade were, but it had too many problems and would be 'too expensive to fix' so it's been sitting there untouched for a few years. Roumor is that half of the classrooms are still put together, and I thought that it'd be a neat thing to paint."

They walked into the math room and took their seats. Sam secretly hoped that he might be able to stay at this school a little longer than a month, because he hasn't made friends with someone so fast in years.

The day passed fast again, and Dean was sitting in the parking lot again, and Sam got in, ready to go back to the motel.

* * *

That night, Sam got more homework than he thought should be legal in math and science. His notes, copied from Natalie's notebooks, and books were spread out on the motel table. He tried to focus on science, but it wasn't interesting, and he would rather do math anyway. Dean came in and looked at Sam.

"Dinner is here." He held up two bags of fast food and went over to the couch. "How's that going?" Dean motioned to the homework.

"Great. It's easy, we already learned this stuff in the old school, but they're just covering it here." Sam played with the pen some more until he went back to doing the problems.

"What about that Natalie chick you mentioned yesterday?"

Sam looked up and shrugged. "She's smart, and reads a lot. She's in art class and takes French. She's also really nice, but if she wants to be, she's absolutely terrifying. She yelled at some boys today and the look she gave them could give some of those ghosts a run for their money. I thought you might like her, she likes Batman and old cars."

Dean grinned and winked at Sam. "Ohh, Sammy loves her!"

"Shut up Dean, I have homework to do." Sam turned back to the table, but couldn't stop the blush the crept up his cheeks.

A few hours later, Sam was satisfied with his work and put everything away. He finished the report they had to do in science, and hoped that he didn't write too much. Dean was on the couch doing research for dad, so Sam decided to go to sleep. After getting changed, he crawled into the lumpy motel bed and fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you for the follows! I've been writing shorter chapters, and I was wondering if you guys would rather chapters around this length, but updated more often than longer chapters, most likely updated once a week, and not a few times a week. Don't forget to review, and if you see anything that could have improvement, please tell me! Thanks! **

"I was thinking that maybe we could go down to the school tonight, around eleven, and we could go in through the back door. It's always unlocked and it would be a great place to start." Natalie was writing in a notebook as she explained the plan to Sam, Chris, and Anna at the lunch table. "I'll take a handful of pictures and then we'll get out, maybe around midnight."

Anna looked between Chis and Sam and turned back to Natalie. "It's only Wednesday, you know that, right? Are you insane?"

"I need to get the pictures so I can start before the weekend. We don't have school Friday, so I can't go down to Miss Kalan's to see what style would work the best to paint with." Natalie answered.

"This is exactly why I'm not going, Anna. It's a dumb plan, anyway, who wants to be in a school with a ghost?" Isabella whispered, as though it could hear her.

"There's a ghost?" Sam looked to Natalie for an explanation, but she rolled her eyes.

"Ghost my ass. No proof, Mister Gill could have, I don't know, quit. He was young. I bet he wanted to see the world. "

"Who's Mister Gill?" Sam looked at Chris, and he shrugged.

"Mister Gill was the janitor that worked at the old school, bit of an odd guy. My parents say so anyway. Telling stories to anyone who would listen. They say he would have been a great writer, but I think he was a killer!" Chris yelled the last part, causing Isabella to scream.

"Why would he haunt a school then?" Sam tried not to look suspicious, but it was an interesting story, real or not.

"He came to school once, and never left the building. I think he killed himself in the basement." Chris threw the remainder of his burger on the tray and looked at Sam.

"Yea, that's why they've never found a body. I'm calling bull shit on this." Natalie got up to dump her lunch with a sigh.

"They never found it because they never looked. It's simple. There's a whole underground room to the school besides the basement in the school. Like a bomb shelter. It was built in the early 20's." Chris looked pleased with himself as Natalie sat down.

"You don't believe this, do you?" She motioned her hand across the table to Chris and rolled her eyes.

Sam figured that if she did that anymore her eyes would fall out of her head. He smiled as Chris and Natalie were having a fight about if the ghost of Mister Gill is true or not and was happy that, for once, he would be able to laugh about a ghost story too. Before Natalie killed someone to make a ghost, Sam decided to step in.

"Natalie, do you not believe in ghosts?" The table quieted their arguing, and turned to Natalie.

"I'm not saying that I don't believe in them, it's just you normally need a person to die, and then they haunt the area they died in or where they had a strong connection. Mister Gill didn't have a strong connection here, he was the janitor. He didn't die here, they never found a body. Don't you think that it would be all over the papers if they found a body in the school?" Natalie crossed her arms and gave a challenging look to Chris and Sam.

Sam was impressed with all of the thought that Natalie put into this, even if she did find most of the information from old books. He doubted that Natalie really did care about ghosts, and was relieved when they were dismissed from the cafeteria.

* * *

Natalie got on to her bus, and Sam began looking for the impala. He spotted it parked in the back of the lot, and rushed over to it.

"Dean, hey, do you mind if I go over to the old school tonight? Natalie is doing a project and she needs pictures of the rooms." Sam looked at his brother with his 'puppy-dog-eyes' while trying to sound as nice as possible.

"What?" Dean looked over to him as they pulled out of the parking lot and onto the main road.

"There's an old school building near the center of town, by the library. Natalie and two other kids, Chris and Anna, are planning on going tonight. It's been sitting there for years, and no one goes in it anymore. Natalie needs pictures, and I think it'd be fun. Please Dean."

"Sure. Is there anything _suspicious _about this building?" Dean eyed Sam, as though the answer was written on his face.

"No. I don't think so. Chris seems positive there's a ghost, but Natalie says there's not. She knows what she's talking about, too. Shot down Chris's idea about the ghost by saying that they needed to be connected to their hunting grounds or die there, and she said that there has never been a body found there." Sam shrugged his shoulders and looked back at Dean.

"Not bad information. Listen, take a gun and you can go."

"What?"

"Sam, I don't care that you go. But you should take a gun, just in case. You know what lives in the dark." Dean put the impala into park and opened the door. "No more discussion." He shut the door and walked over to the motel door. "Coming Sammy?"

Accepting defeat, Sam got out of the car, and walked over to Dean. He was already taller than Dean, but Dean could still out-match him in a fight any day. Sam was good, for a sophomore, but his fighting was clumsy, and he had the bruises on his back to prove it. They were slowly starting to heal, but it would be a week or two before they were completely gone. Sam shut the door behind him and looked over to Dean.

"Don't do that pathetic kicked puppy look Samantha." Dean smirked and tossed Sam a gun, and some salt rounds. "What time do you need to be there?"

"A little before eleven."

"Great, you can help with this research. It's a pain in my ass." Dean pulled out a chair by all of the books he had stacked on the table and motioned to the seat.

Sam sighed and sat down. He did like research, it was his favorite part of the hunt, but he couldn't stay focused. Dean went to looking into the ghost of Mister Gill, and came up empty handed. There were records of an Andrew Gill, but he never married and had no close by family members. They said that he moved away around the 70's, and that's where they stopped. Dean felt much better about letting Sam go after that, be he couldn't shake the nagging feeling that something was wrong.


	4. Chapter 4

When Dean pulled the impala up to the old school, Sam jumped out of the car and went over to the black figures standing by the bushes by the back entrance. Dean made sure that Sam brought a gun and salt carried in a duffle bag. Dean continued driving, and was soon out of earshot of the group of teenagers. Sam could finally see Natalie, Chris, and Anna, all huddled around the door.

"What's wrong?" Sam curiously poked his head over Natalie's shoulder with ease, being more than a head taller than her.

"The fucking door is locked, that's what." Natalie turned around a sighed. "Every other day it's open, I was just down here last week, but when I bring my camera, it's locked."

"See, it's a sign. We should leave." Anna was looking around nervously, and pulled at her sweatshirt.

"Wait, I have something." Sam fumbled around in his bag until he found a lock pic and went to the door. It opened easily, and Sam stood up.

"Nice!" Chris patted Sam on the back before walking into the darkness of the school.

"Wait up!" Anna ran in after him, leaving Sam and Natalie in the breezy October night.

"So, you ready?" Natalie adjusted the bad on her back and looked at Sam.

He couldn't help but notice that her eyes were big and searching, but they looked almost empty. Natalie didn't really have that many friends in school, and was constantly the kid that all of the other girls picked on, either for her clothing that wasn't Hollister, or what she liked. Sam observed that when this happened, she would yell back, and then pretend everything was okay. Sam's second day at the new school showed that. She would retreat into her personal shell, and lock the doors. But they soon changed and looked as friendly as usual. But it was just a cover up. Sam knew that.

"Yea, but Dean wanted you to have his cell number incase anything happened." Sam handed her a piece of paper, and while Natalie put the number in her phone, Sam couldn't help but think that she felt pity for him because she saw the same thing in Sam's eyes.

Natalie put her phone away and looked around the empty parking lot and entered the building, leaving Sam to follow her inside. Sam looked around the room they entered and figured that it was the cafeteria. It was huge, with windows reaching up to the ceiling, which were easily two stories tall. The ceiling had water stains on it, and some of the tiles had fallen down on to the floor. The floor was cement, with cracks in it. There were beer bottles and soda cans littering the floor, and the occasional empty cigarette packet.

"I thought that you said that the school has only been empty a few years?"

Natalie turned to look at Sam and a sad expression fell over her face. "Yea, it's sad, but when we went to school here, it wasn't in much better shape. They didn't take care of it, and left it to rot." Natalie turned back around and began walking toward the staircase outside of the cafeteria doors.

They went down a floor, to the basement, Sam presumed, and up a floor, to the second story of class rooms. After Natalie pondered either to go up or down, she began walking up the stairs. They were cement, too but not nearly as cracked as the cafeteria floor.

When Natalie and Sam reached the first classroom, Chris and Anna poked their heads out of it.

"Slow pokes." Anna went back into the room.

"Took you long enough." Chris walked out of the room and wen beside Sam. "This is one of the rooms that Natalie said would be 'fun' to paint." Chis explained to Sam.

They walked into the room, and Natalie set her stuff down. Sam looked around and agreed that it was beautiful. There was still almost all of the desks still in the room, with some pushed over. The chalkboard still had a countdown to the end of the school year in the corner which no one bothered to erase, even when it was on one day. The walls plaster was peeling, and the floors had terrible water damage. The windows were the same style as the cafeteria's windows, going up to the ceiling, but they were cracked and some were broken. Natalie pulled out her camera and was adjusting the settings on it when there was a muffled crash of something hitting the landing. Sam couldn't pinpoint how far away it was, but he figured it came from the bottom of the staircase that Natalie and he just went up.

"What the hell was that?" Anna looked at the door and backed toward Chris and Sam.

"I don't know. Is there a party that is supposed to be happening here today?" Natalie didn't even look up from her camera. "Look, I need you guys to back out of the room so I can get this picture."

The trio moved out of the room, and Natalie took a handful of pictures all from different angles, and each time, a bright flash filled the room. After being pleased with what she got, Natalie put the camera away and joined them.

"Ready? I want to go to the library to get some more pictures." Natalie grinned and began walking; only stopping when she realized that Chris and Anna weren't following her and Sam.

"We are going to leave, alright Natalie?" Anna pulled at the sleeves of her sweatshirt and looked at Chris.

"Sure, uh, tell me when you get home." Natalie looked at Anna and Chris, and smiled. "See you guys in school tomorrow.

When Natalie and Sam reached the library, it was already eleven thirty. Sam went in first, followed closely by Natalie. It was on the bottom floor with the cafeteria, but on the other side of the building. The shelves were mostly empty, except for the few books left behind. The chairs were dusty, and the tables were empty. Sam loved the way that it still had a cozy feel, and told himself that he should bring Dean here.

Natalie sighed and looked at Sam. "It's awful that they left the building like this. Some of the rooms are trashed, like the cafeteria, but others are in perfect condition, like the library and the one classroom that we went in."

Natalie took her pictures and turned to Sam. "I want to do one more room, kay?"

"Sure, I told Dean that I'd call him when we are done, so no rush. How are you getting home?" Sam put his bag down and rolled his shoulders.

"I'm walking. I live down the street, like ten minutes away." Natalie began putting her camera away, but stopped when she looked at Sam, who was giving her a bitch-face. "My parents know that I'm here, chill. They just want me home by one."

Sam grinned and looked at his watch. "Well, it's eleven-fifty-nine."

Natalie's phone buzzed and she turned to get it from her bag. home. see u tomorrow. –Anna"

Natalie grinned and put the phone back. She turned back to Sam when she heard the sound of a flashlight being dropped. Where Sam was standing a minute ago was now empty, with a flashlight being the only thing near Sam's duffle bag.

"Sam?" Natalie ran into the hall and looked up and down it. "SAM!"


	5. Chapter 5

**I am so sorry. I've had dance practices all week, and then the shows so I haven't had time to write this. I didn't mean to put it off for so long! Read and Review!**

Natalie looked down the deserted hallway and hoped that Sam was just hiding around the corner.

"Sam. Oh fucking god."

Natalie backed into the library and looked around. Fear gripped her, and her vision began to swim, but she decided to ignore it. After taking a deep breath, she walked over to Sam's bag.

"I hope you don't mind me doing this."

Natalie crouched down to the duffle and cautiously unzipped the bag and looked in. It was nearly empty, except for a container of salt, a lighter, and a gun. Natalie picked up the salt a sighed. She remembered that salt was used to ward off ghosts and other creatures, but did Sam believe that? She looked at the gun, and realized he did.

"If something happened, I was supposed to do what?" Natalie looked around the room, almost expecting an answer from the dusty shelves that lined the walls. The temperature dropped, and Natalie tugged at her sweatshirt sleeves to unroll them.

"Oh, yea." Natalie pulled her phone out from her pocket and went into the contacts.

After selecting 'Dean Winchester' she dialed the number. Natalie tapped her foot, but the phone was picked up on the second ring.

"Hello?" A voice from the other end of the line answered, and Natalie's heart sank.

What the hell was she supposed to tell the brother? 'Hi, I think your brother might be kidnapped by a ghost, cuz I can't find him.'

"Uh, hi. I'm Natalie, Sam's friend." Natalie hoped her voiced didn't crack as bad as she thought it did.

"The one at the school, right? I'm Dean." The voice suddenly got very serious and he continued. "What's wrong?"

"Oh Jesus, I'm so sorry. I was taking pictures with Sam here, and I turned around for one minute and he's gone. I saw that he had salt in his bag, so I figured that he knew about ghosts –" Natalie began rambling, but Dean cut her off.

"Ok, I'm on my way. Stay where you are, and make a circle of salt and stand in it. Where are you?"

"If you go in the door that you dropped Sam off at, stay on that floor and follow the hallway around. It makes a right, then another right, like a 'c', and there is a room on the left. I'm there." Natalie ran a hand through her hair and added. "Please hurry,"

Sam groaned as he opened his eyes and immediately regretted it. His back felt like he was just thrown down steps, and Sam realized that the bruises that were healing were going to need a few more weeks now to completely disappear. His head was pounding and the world felt like it was tilted to the side. Sam refused to stay sprawled out on his back, a much too vulnerable position for comfort, and slowly stood up. He was standing in complete darkness, and he had to bow his head to fit in the low ceilinged room.

"Fuck." Sam let out a whisper, and tried to find a wall to help lead him into a lighted area, but his feet didn't respond, and he fell over.

Sam tried to blink back the white dots that came into his vision, but soon he was unconscious on the ground again.

Natalie was sitting in the circle of salt when Dean ran into the room, armed with a gun. Natalie jumped up, alarmed at the sudden intrusion, and held up the gun she had stolen from Sam's bag.

"Natalie?" Dean looked at her, and then eyed the gun. "Can you shoot?"

Natalie couldn't help the blush that came up her cheeks when she shook her head. She got a good look at Dean, who dressed like Sam in more ways than one. They both wore a lot of layers, and the layers looked too worn down to belong to them.

"Dean, I really didn't think that Mister Gill was real, I'm so sorry. But the rumors are that he hung himself in the basement, so I think Sam might be there." Natalie looked at Dean and pressed her lips together.

"Sure you don't want to leave?" Dean looked at the girl.

He could normally read people very easily, but Natalie was different. Her eyes looked like the ocean, powerful and lonely. They flickered between happiness, and sadness, almost like she couldn't decide how she should be feeling. Dean felt a pang of pity for her, and didn't press the matter. He grabbed Sam's duffle and looked at her.

"Get your stuff, we can put it into my car, and then look for Sam." Dean hoped that Natalie would continue having this blind faith in him so they could get Sam out of wherever the hell he was, and wouldn't mind telling him about the legends of the building.

Natalie nodded her head and walked out of the circle of salt and grabbed her bag. Dean walked out of the room and looked up and down the hall. He really wanted to look for Sam right now, but he didn't want Natalie to break her camera, something that obviously meant a lot to her. She broke into a building that was rumored to have a fucking ghost in it that could kill, at night no less, to get pictures. Dean began leading her down the hall, and they walked toward the cafeteria. Natalie ran up to the back exit and pulled on the door.

"Natalie, hurry up, I think something's coming." Dean barely got the words out of his mouth when a man with a bloody forehead appeared outside of the cafeteria.

"Dean it's not fucking opening!" Natalie pulled at the door again, but it wouldn't budge.

Dean shot the ghost, and it disappeared in a puff of smoke. He ran over to Natalie, and tried to open the door, but failed too.

"Put your stuff down, we need to find Sam. Now. The building might be in a supernatural lockdown. Mister Gill doesn't want us to leave here." Dean looked at Natalie, and reloaded his gun with more salt rounds. "I thought that you said he hung himself."

"I thought so too, but I don't know." Natalie continued to look where the man had been moments before and put her bag down.

"So where do you think that Sam is?" Dean began walking toward the staircase and turned around. "Cuz I think that he might be here."


	6. Chapter 6

**I just want to say thank you to everyone who has followed the story! I don't have any idea how much longer the story is going to be, but I have a few ideas of where I want to take this. If you want to drop a review that would be great! Once again, I am incredibly sorry about the break for the last chapter to be updated. I did this chapter on my 24th hour without sleep, so if there are any mistakes, it's because of that! **

Dean kicked open the door at the bottom of the landing and shone his flashlight in the room. It was a low ceiling hallway that ran underneath the school. There were two desks set up along the wall, but the rest was practically empty. Dean bent his head to walk in, and Natalie followed closely behind Dean.

"What's the deal with old Mister Gill?" Dean sifted through the papers scattered on the desks, but glanced at Natalie.

"I don't know. Rumor is that he hung himself down here, but the apparition showed signs of a beating, or maybe a fall of some sort." Natalie looked at Dean and bit her lip.

"Yea, but why? You said that he was a janitor, young, and had a great imagination. That's about it."

"That's what Chris's parents say anyway. I don't know."

Dean began opening drawers and pulling the contents out. He sighed as he shut the drawer and looked back at Natalie.

"What do you think happened?" Dean moved onto the next desk and began looking through its papers.

"Well, the head shows signs of a fall, but there was bruising on the neck and arms. To get that type of position, you would need to be pulling someone, so Gill didn't do that to himself. But there was also bruising on his collar bone, and it looks like it might be from a crowbar or something like that." Natalie looked up from the floor and looked down the hall.

"So you think that he was beaten?" Dean stopped what he was doing and looked at Natalie.

"Well, there is a pattern in this town. People get into fights, and the school ignores it. Then if someone does something really bad, they have family or they personally make sure no one finds out about it." Natalie looked Dean in his eyes and shrugged.

Dean decided that they should continue to look for Sam, so they continued down the hall. After the first bend in the room, they spotted a figure hunched over but it soon fell over.

"Sammy?

"Sammy, you ok?" Dean held Sam by the shoulders and looked into his eyes.

"Mpp – yea, I, stood up too fast." Sam pushed his bangs out of his face and looked at Natalie over Dean's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Natalie looked taken aback by Sam's question and raised her eyebrows. "Yea." She forced a grin on her face and shrugged. "It's fun. You know, being scared out of your mind. I'm waiting for some camera crew to run out and yell 'you're punk'd!"

Sam chucked and Dean helped him up. "Any idea how to get out, Sammy?"

"Well, considering I haven't seen a ghost yet today, no." Sam looked around and the trio began walking toward the exit.

When they reached the entrance to the room, Natalie went up first.

"I'll check if the doors are open yet."

Dean stood supporting Sam's weight and looked around. There wasn't much to the area. There was an empty filing cabinet that had rusted so it was crumbling at the touch, and a broken lamp. Dean's attention was drawn back to Natalie when there was a scream from the stairs. He let go of Sam, who lowered himself to the floor, and ran toward the steps. Looking up, he saw the ghost of Mister Gill at the top of the stairs and Natalie a few steps below him. She went to step back and lost her footing on the steps. Dean made eye contact with Gill, and was thrown against the wall, near Sam. Natalie fell at the bottom of the stairs with a thud. Gill appeared by her and picked her up by the collar of her sweat shirt. Natalie's feet were behind her, and Dean could tell that they weren't supporting any of her weight.

"It's a fucking violent ghost, what do you do? Think Winchester!" Using the faint light from his flashlight, Dean scanned the room for his gun. It was across the room where it had been discarded when he slammed into the wall. Dean got up and ran toward it, sliding on the loose dirt and grabbed it. He aimed it at the apparition and fired.

"Natalie!" Sam slowly got up and went over to her. He was still seeing dots in his vision, and struggled to remain upright, but he got next to her and leaned against the wall.

"Fine, I'm fine." Natalie stood up, but winced when she put weight on her left foot.

Dean came over and pressed his index finger and thumb on the bridge of his nose. "How the hell are we supposed to get out?"

"Don't you need to burn any remains of the body for the ghost to go away?" Natalie asked as she looked at Dean.

"Yea, but I looked and Gill was cremated."

Natalie sighed and turned to Sam. "You okay there?"

"Fine." Sam huffed out, and opened his eyes to look at Natalie.

Dean moved over to the desks again and began looking through the drawers. "You said it looks like he might have been beaten?" Dean glanced over to Natalie and she nodded. "Look for a bat or a bar."

After an hour of searching, Sam found a wooden bat and bloody handkerchiefs in the far back corner of the closet that would have held cleaning supplies.

"We should take this upstairs." Sam noted.

"And Mister Gill can come back and beat our asses again. Good idea Samantha." Dean rolled his eyes when Sam shot him a bitch-face.

"Alright, let's do this. It's already three." Natalie crossed her arms and frowned.

Dean put the bat and handkerchiefs in a pile, and Sam went to light it. Mister Gill appeared at the bottom of the stairs and started to charge at them. He disappeared, but reappeared next to Sam. Sam lit the pile on fire, and the ghost disappeared in a small burst of fire.

The group stayed in the basement until the fire died down, but then made their way up into the cafeteria again. Dean was practically carrying Sam, and Natalie was gingerly stepping on her left foot. After everything was in the impala, Dean turned around in his seat.

"Tell me your address and I'll take you home. If your parents have a problem with how late – early you came home, I can talk to them."

Dean looked at Sam, who was giving him a bitch-face again and added "It won't be the truth if you don't want me to tell them that."

Natalie smirked and began telling Dean how to get to her house.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey! Just a few notes. When the letters are bolded like this note is, it means email. Thank you to everyone who has read it so far, and I hope that you are enjoying it! **

Dean pulled up to a large house and killed the engine. It had dark grey siding and red shutters on the floor to ceiling windows. There was a porch that covered the front half of the house, and a large red door in the center.

Dean looked into the mirror and stared at Natalie ."This it?"

"Yea."

Natalie climbed out of the car after Dean made sure that she knew what to tell her parents if she got in trouble for getting home so late. Natalie waved at the impala as she entered her house and shut the door. It was dark and quiet, but Natalie didn't care. Her ankle still throbbed and she figured that she would go to the doctor's after school tomorrow. Natalie climbed the stairs to her room and paused at the empty master bedroom. The bed was made, and there was dust on the dresser. The large windows created shadows that danced across the wood floor, inviting her to go in. Natalie pouted her lips and closed the door. When she reached her room at the back of the house she turned the light on in her room, put her camera down and changed. There were posters and artwork that lined the walls leaving only small patches of plain white and enough room for the two windows on the back wall. A full sized bed was in between the windows, with a blue comforter that reminded her of the ocean on a calm night. There was a dark brown dresser on the opposite wall of her bed and a blue beanbag chair that matched the comforter of her bed. The room was wide, but it barley left enough room for there to be walking room between the bed and the dresser. Natalie pulled her hair into a messy bun and looked at her back. She winced as she pulled at her shirt and observed the dark bruises that now decorated her back.

"A small price to pay for falling down a fucking flight of stairs."

Natalie looked at the clock and sighed. Figuring that it would be better to not sleep, she sat on her bed and pulled out her laptop. Natalie looked at her foot and sighed. She thought that she would be able to wrap it for school and see if her sister could take her to the doctors. She pulled up her email and started typing.

**Hi Jackie could you stop by after school tomorrow and pick me up? I need to go to the Doc's. I fell down some stairs (I'm a klutz, I know.) and it's swollen. I'll wrap it and go to school, but I want to check it out. Anyway, I know that you are really busy with school, but I haven't seen you in a few weeks. The house is really empty. It's weird. School is only two hours away, so it wouldn't be too much to ask, right? Even if you leave to go back to school on Friday, I want to see you. I meet a really nice kid at school, besides Chris, Isabella, and Anna. His name is Sam and he's really nice. Love you -Natalie **

Natalie sent the message and got back up to wrap her ankle. She winced when she stood on it, but after a few deep breaths, she began walking to the bathroom. Passing the now closed door to the master bedroom, she entered the bathroom. It was simple, like most of the house, but held everything she would need. In the closet, Natalie pulled out the wrap and sat on the edge of the tub. After she made sure that it was wrapped properly, she began to walk back to her room. There was a message on her computer and she quickly read it.

**Hey Nat. Can't you get Chris's dad to take you there? He said if you ever need anything to ask him. I have stuff to do. If you can't get anyone to help you, tell me. There's a party Friday night. -Jacqueline**

Natalie stared at the message before responding. She knew that because her sister was seven years older than her she didn't want to deal with a sophomore and the fact that she had to come _home_ to drop her off Jackie didn't want to come, but she couldn't help the tears that came to her eyes.

**Jackie I need a ride. You can leave after that. Thanks. -Natalie**

Natalie shut her computer and looked at the clock.

**3:34 am **

"Two hours of sleep is better than none."

Natalie rolled over and shut her eyes and hoped to fall into a dreamless sleep. It didn't work though, and she was plagued by visions of ghosts.

* * *

"Sam!" Dean shouted from the couch, waking Sam up.

He rolled over and looked at Dean. "What?"

"It's time to get ready for school sleeping beauty."

Sam rubbed the sleep out of his eyes after he sat up and looked at the clock.

**06.00 AM**

As Sam stood up, he felt like he was going to vomit. After standing in the same spot for a while, he opened his eyes to notice Dean staring at him.

Sam began to get his clothing from his bag "What?"

"What's wrong?" Dean stood up to catch Sam when he began to wobble on his feet.

Sam pushed him away and walked over to the bathroom. "I'm fine Dean. Just a little tired."

The water wasn't warming up as fast as Sam would have liked, but he got into the shower anyway. Water poured out of the showerhead, cooling the scratches that Sam got only hours before. After a quick shower, he wrapped a towel around his waist and examined his back. There were a few light bruises, but the majority of his back was a large dark bruise. Cuts danced along his arms, and there was hand shaped bruise on his right arm where he was grabbed to be drug down to the basement last night. Figuring that Dean would give him hell for the mess of a body he had right now, Sam changed in the bathroom.

"Samantha, what do you want to eat?" Dean grinned and added, "There's a really nice looking diner down the road."

Rolling his eyes, Sam shrugged and grabbed his backpack. "Whatever."

Dean grabbed his keys and opened the door, but was met with a sheet of rain.

"Meet you in the car Sammy."

Sam followed Dean into the storm hoping that he wouldn't get too wet.

* * *

Sam ran into the school and headed towards first period. Some kids waved at him, but most just walked by. It's not like he minded. He was glad that they ignored him. Natalie, Chris, Isabella, and Anna were funny and nice, so he didn't really need to hang out with the 'in' crowd. When he reached his classroom, Natalie came up to him.

Sam grinned and waved. "Hey Natalie!"

"Hi Sam." Natalie repositioned the camera bag that she had slung over her shoulder.

A girl that Sam hadn't bothered to get to know came over and slapped Natalie on the back. Sam saw her face wince in pain, but she quickly covered it up with a forced smile.

"Hey Nat, I'm gonna bother Sam here for a quick minute. Kay? Kay." The girl pulled Natalie away and stood in front of Sam.

After plastering on a huge smile the girl turned to look at Sam. She wore a short skirt and a tank top. Confused of how she was staying warm he grinned back.

"Hi, a few other kids and I were wondering what you were doing tonight? It's your first weekend here, and we thought you might want to do something other than hang out with the losers."

Looking over her shoulder, Sam looked at Natalie, who was glaring daggers into the girls back. She caught Sam's eyes and motioned that she meant to get him wasted and bang him. Laughing Sam turned back to the other girl.

"Uh, no. Anyway, the first few days that I was here you constantly made fun of me, and Natalie and her friends are cool. Thanks, no thanks." Sam pushed her out of the way and went back to Natalie.

Her face relaxed and she grinned at him. "That's Kamran. 'Leader of the school.'"

"Is everyone here a bitch, or just most of the kids?" Sam questioned Natalie and she laughed.

"Just most. There are some nice groups of kids, but they are outnumbered by the 'cool kids' so they don't really make an impression in the school." Natalie spotted the teacher coming and shrugged. "Like a lot of the teachers, there are some good, and then the terrible ones."

When they walked into the room, she whispered "Example A."

Sam couldn't help the smile that broke onto his face and he looked over to Natalie, who was also grinning. Her eyes twinkled with a brief happiness, but Sam could tell that it was forced. Sam's grin died a little and he hoped that he would be able to help with whatever was hurting her so much that she had to completely shut down to cope. But he promised himself that only if she said something about it first. He didn't want to lose one of the best friends that he's ever made.

**A/N - I'm a terrible person, I agree. But if you can figure out where I'm going with Natalie's story great job! Anyway, drop a little review and tell me what you think!**


	8. Chapter 8

Racing around the corner of the hallway, Sam spotted Natalie walking with a slight limp. "Hey Natalie! Wait up!"

Natalie turned around to see Sam running towards her. His lanky legs helped him reach her quickly, and she couldn't suppress a grin that came to her face. Unlike most of her grins, this was real.

"Sorry, got caught up in the locker room."

Natalie rolled her eyes and continued walking to the cafeteria. They passed a few other kids that were making their way to their next class or going to the cafeteria. Chris, Anna, and Isabella were waiting for them at their table, and after putting their books down, they joined in line.

"So how did the whole 'pictures at the old school' go?" Anna looked at Sam and Natalie as they exchanged glances.

Natalie was the first one to speak up after a very uncomfortable pause, "We got the pictures, but being the klutz I am I fell down some stairs. Sam's brother came and gave me a ride home, but I got the pictures!" Natalie motioned over to the camera bag that was sitting on the table.

Voice laced with concern, Isabella began talking. "Oh! Are you ok? That's why you've been walking kind of weird all day, huh?"

The line moved forward letting the group get their food. They let Natalie get her food first, and the rest followed. Sam smiled when Natalie grabbed some broccoli.

"What?" Natalie asked while she narrowed her eyes "I know that you eat veggies too. No one gets that tall on candy, sasquatch."

Sam couldn't help but laugh at her comment, "I just never thought you ate broccoli, especially the schools."

"I get what I can." Natalie grinned and shrugged her shoulders while she walked out of the lunch line.

Chris nudged Sam and whispered, "Nice, can I get some tips? Natalie never looks this happy!"

Sam smiled and agreed. Even though he's only seen one real grin from her, Natalie was starting to look happier. When Sam exited the line, his smile fell. Natalie was standing next to the table, and was surrounded by the kids that were trying to get Sam to go to the party.

"Listen you little douche wad. I'm not saying it again. Give me my fucking camera." Natalie glared at the boy who was holding the camera above her head.

"Or what? You'll call daddy?" The boy laughed with his friends, but let out a groan when Natalie kneed him in the crotch.

Sam put his tray on a table nearest to him and ran over. The boy tried to grab Natalie, but she ducked out of the way. Sam came up behind him and wrapped his arm around his throat and kicked out his legs. Natalie took advantage of the situation and grabbed her camera. Another girl wrapped her leg around Natalie's bad ankle and she fell to the ground.

"Fuck." Natalie whispered as her head was pinned to the ground by the girl's foot. The camera was held protectively between her arms and chest, but other than that she didn't try to protect herself. A kick came to her stomach before Sam pulled the girl off of her.

"Hey! Knock it off!" Mister Randolph came over and pushed his was to the center of the crowd. "Everyone that doesn't want detention get back to their seats!"

The crowd quickly left, leaving Sam, Natalie, and the two kids that they were fighting. Sam helped Natalie off of the ground, but couldn't help noticing that Natalie looked distant and completely shut down, the only other time Sam saw her like this was when he first met her. Feeling a pang of pity he did a weak smile to her, which was completely ignored.

"My office. Now." Mister Randolph pointed to the office and they began to walk towards it. He led the two kids into the detention room and Natalie and Sam into his office.

"Mind telling me why you were fighting?" Mister Randolph took the glasses off his face and rubbed his eyes.

Natalie slowly blinked, and Sam felt a wave of relief when he began to see emotion in her eyes again, even if they shut back down again. "They took my camera." Natalie's voice was robotic and she looked at Sam, "He didn't do anything, really. It was all me."

"Beg to differ. There is a no fighting policy at this school, and this will not be tolerated."

Sam felt panic rise in his chest, and she looked at Natalie again, who was now playing with the straps on her bag.

"You will both be receiving punishment for your actions." Mister Randolph added.

"What about the other kids?" Sam asked, and looked him in the eye.

"That is none of your business, I'm afraid Sam."

Mister Randolph walked out of the room leaving a tension that could be cut with a spoon in his office. Sam slid back into the chair and looked at Natalie.

"Sorry." She mumbled and looked at him. Her eyes were completely and utterly empty of all emotion.

"Yea, sorry I didn't beat their asses when I had the chance." Sam mumbled, causing Natalie to give a weak smile.

* * *

A few minutes later, Mister Randolph reentered the office, followed by Dean and Jackie. Both Natalie's and Sam's faces drained of all color. Dean looked quizzically at Sam, but didn't say anything; Jackie didn't even look at Natalie. Mister Randolph sat behind his desk and looked at the two 'guardians' of the teenagers and sighed.

"I have asked you to come to my office today because both of your, well uh, siblings were fighting in the cafeteria."

Dean gave Mister Randolph a questioning look before asking, "Fighting each other?"

"No." Natalie spat out.

Mister Randolph glared at her before continuing, "When I entered the cafeteria, Sam was kicking the legs out of another student."

"Yea, because he took Natalie's stuff and wouldn't give it back." Sam mumbled, earning a proud look from Dean.

"Are you going to add that some girl tripped me then kicked me in the stomach, or are we going to pretend that didn't happen?" Natalie looked into Mister Randolph's eyes while asking. Natalie stared unblinkingly at him until he broke the silence.

"If you haven't kneed the other boy in the crouch, maybe that wouldn't have happened." Mister Randolph was beginning to lose his patience with matter and stood up. "I am not defending their actions or yours. There is a strict no fighting policy at my school and I am trying to keep this as fair as possible."

"Life's not fair. Deal with it." Natalie leaned back into the chair and smirked.

Mister Randolph ignored her comment and continued, "You both will be receiving an hour of detention for a week starting Monday."

Neither Sam nor Natalie protested, they just continued giving Mister Randolph challenging glares. He sighed and looked at Dean and Jackie, who were standing behind their siblings.

"Is there any question about that?"

"What about the other kids?" Jackie questioned.

"Both will be receiving a week of in school suspension."

Dean looked like he was going to say something, but Mister Randolph interrupted him. "You both may go back to class." He motioned for Natalie and Sam to leave.

They got up but before Natalie left, Jackie grabbed her wrist. "Wait. I need to take you to the doctors."

Natalie nodded, and then followed Jackie to the front desk.

"Hello, I need to sign Natalie out. She has a doctor's appointment." Jackie began talking to the secretary while Natalie looked around. She saw Sam who was leaving the office. He turned around and began walking toward her. She motioned to her ankle, then to the door, and Sam understood what she meant.

He made a phone with his hands and mouthed, "Call you later."

* * *

At the end of the day, Dean picked Sam up and they headed back to the motel room.

"So Sammy, why didn't you beat those kids up? I know you can." Dean looked over to Sam, and smirked.

"I didn't want to be the weird kid for once Dean." Sam pouted and looked out the window.

"Whatever Samantha." Dean turned on the radio and started tapping his hands to the beat. Sam rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything. When they reached the motel, Sam practically jumped out of the car and walked to the motel door.

While unlocking the door, Dean asked, "What do you think we should have for dinner? I'm thinking pizza."

Sam shrugged and walked into the room. He was too occupied with what Natalie had said and done today, then when her sister came instead of her parents. A thought clicked in his head and he turned to Dean, who was sitting on the couch with his feet propped up on the coffee table.

"Do you think that Natalie doesn't have parents?"

Dean turned to Sam and put his feet on the ground. "What?"

"Well, she didn't seem like she was going to do anything to hurt the kid that had her camera until he mentioned something about her dad, and then her sister came to the office today. Not only that, but she always seems like she shuts down when something happens, like a reflect for dealing with bad news. With most people, you can tell when they are upset, but she just," Sam shrugged before adding, "Stands there."

Dean studied Sam and picked up the remote to the television. "Dude, don't ask her. Wait until she tells you, because if it's something else like her cat died so she has been sad and her parents are away, you are going to feel like a total douche."

Sam agreed while he joined Dean on the couch. "Pizza would be great."

Dean grinned before he continued flipping through the small amount of channels that the motel offered.

* * *

**A/N - So what do you guys think? I would like to thank everyone who has followed and favorited this story! **


	9. Chapter 9

**I'm so sorry that I've kept you guys waiting for so long! A thing called responsibilities reared its ugly head again and I haven't had time to sit down for a period of time yet. I would like to thank EmpressOfEvilBunnies for the kind review! It's great that you are enjoying the story! Anyway, the beginning of this chapter takes place when Jackie takes Natalie to the Doctor, but Sam is still in school. Sorry about that. Enjoy!**

Jackie and Natalie sat in an uncomfortable silence while they were waiting for the doctor to return. After a few feeble attempts to start conversation, Natalie was scuffing her unhurt foot on the ground. The door opened again and Doctor Wess reentered the room.

"It seems that it is just a sprained ankle, and nothing too serious, considering you fell down a flight of stairs." Doctor Wess looked up from the papers before continuing, "You should just try to rest it as much as possible and keep it elevated. Wrap it and ice it for about twenty minutes at a time every three to four hours. After the first three days try to do everything that you normally do, and you should be good after about a week. Any questions?"

Natalie stood up and looked at Jackie before answering. "No, thank you Doctor."

Jackie stood up and shook his hand before following Natalie out of the room. Natalie wasn't too far in front of her, so Jackie caught up to her before they left the building.

"Have you been icing it?"

"Yea, but I didn't think about wrapping it." Natalie shrugged her shoulders before climbing into the Camaro.

Jackie opened the door and climbed in after she saw that Natalie was sitting. "So, you want to talk about what happened at school today?"

Natalie stared at her, but turned to look out of the window. "No."

Jackie rolled her eyes, and backed the car out of the parking lot. "You can't go fighting everyone that might insult you."

"It's not just that, they said that if I didn't get what I wanted, I would call dad, and they were being rude all week about everything. I came to school Monday to find my locker covered in duct tape. It was a miracle that I didn't get in trouble for running to class after I untapped everything. I thought I was going to be late." Natalie ran a hand through her hair and then dropped it into her lap.

"So it's about mom and dad?" Jackie raised her eyebrows at Natalie and reached her hand to pat her shoulder, but thought better of it and put it back on the wheel.

"I just don't get why they can't leave me alone." Natalie chocked out.

Jackie sighed and looked over at Natalie who was sitting in a ball with her head on her knees. Jackie turned toward the road again, silently debating if leaving her sister at home alone when she still wasn't 'alright' about her parents death. Hell, Jackie couldn't blame her. Natalie was the baby of the family and the closest to either of the parents. Jackie pulled the car up to the front of the house and killed the engine.

"Come on Nat, on the way here I picked up some art supplies that you might like."

* * *

Sam's weekend went by too slowly for his liking, and he was itching to get back to school. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy spending time with Dean; it was that he wanted to talk to Natalie and make sure that she was alright. He tried calling her and her sister picked up and informed Sam that she was too busy painting to come to the phone. After Sam finished getting dressed, he grabbed his backpack and walked over to where Dean was sitting at the table sorting through papers.

"What are you doing?"

Dean looked up and smirked, "None of your business Sammy."

Sam gave Dean his bitch face before continuing, "Can we go then?"

Dean grabbed his keys before standing up. "Want to go say hi to your girlfriend?"

Sam lightly punched Dean on the shoulder and started walking out of the motel room. Dean put a pretend hurt look on his face before he followed Sam out.

"You're a real jerk you know that?"

"You're a real bitch you know that?" Dean responded in a mock tone.

"Real mature Dean."

Dean started the car and turned up the sound before yelling, "What's that? I can't hear you."

Sam rolled his eyes but he did smile a little bit. The radio blasted Metallica while Dean tapped the palms of his hands on the wheel. Sam looked out the window and observed the small 'white-picket-fence' town as Dean described it. The lawns were perfect, and there were flower beds at nearly every house. The idea of living somewhere like this made Dean cringe, but Sam thought it wouldn't be terrible.

They pulled up to the school and Dean turned down the music before he turned to Sam. "I'll come and get you after detention. Try not to do anything _else_ stupid."

Sam smirked and opened the door "You know me. Break every rule I can."

"I mean it!" Dean yelled before he Sam shut the door.

Sam began walking to the doors when he saw Natalie, who was carrying a poster sized canvas. He jogged over to her and looked at the picture.

"Nice!" Sam looked at Natalie and smiled.

She looked up and scrunched up her face before replying "Thanks Sam."

They walked together to the door and Sam opened the door. "You're not planning on carrying that around all day, are you?"

"What? No, I'm taking it down to the art room. I'm not sure I did some of the painting right."

"It looks great, really. I think that if I were try to do that, I would get kicked out of the art room so fast it would make my head spin. I can barely draw a desk, let alone an entire classroom."

"It's a different style than what I'm used to." Natalie shrugged and looked at Sam.

"Well, if this is a 'terrible' piece, I want to see some of your amazing pieces!

Natali turned to him before asking, "Really?"

"Yea. I know about some history of art, and I can appreciate it." Sam shrugged.

"It's just not that many people ask about it." Natalie responded.

Natalie looked at Sam and was about to say something before she thought better of it.

Sam noticed the change in Natalie's face and stopped."What?"

"Nothing, just, uh, nevermind." Natalie's eyes shut down and Sam was beginning to panic.

Before Sam did anything her remembered that Dean told him not to pressure Natalie into saying anything, and he calmed down.

"Alright, but if you want to tell me, I'm here."

The duo continued walking to the art room, then to first period, neither saying a word to the other.

* * *

The final bell rang and students quickly filed out of the school. Natalie and Sam were some of the last kids at their lockers getting the final things that they might need for homework. Natalie shut her locker and began walking down the hall.

"Hey Natalie!" Sam came rushing from around the corner and slid on the floor so he was next to Natalie.

She smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. Her smiles never seemed to, but she was smiling a lot more than she was last week. He talked to Chris and Isabella about it, and they simply said that she just never seemed too happy about anything.

"What?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to walk with you. Anyway, we are going to the same place, aren't we?"

Natalie rolled her eyes and continued walking toward the room that after school detention would be held in. Sam had no choice to follow her as she entered the room. There was a teacher sitting in the desk at the front of the room, and one other kid sitting in the empty room.

"Natalie! I thought that you wouldn't be one to be here!" The guy yelled.

"Shut up Gary." Natalie sat down closest to the window in the second row and pulled out her homework.

Sam chose a seat in between Gary and Natalie and took out his homework too.

"There will be no talking, and try not to do anything dumb. I want to get home today." The teacher announced before she turned back to whatever was sitting on her desk.

Sam turned his attention to his unfinished homework and rolled his shoulders. If this is what detention was going to be like, he didn't mind. He snuck a look at Natalie and wished that she would let him in the barrier that she put up around herself. Sam turned back towards his homework and began working.

He didn't realize that she had let him. But not because he walked on eggshells around her like her friends did, but because she saw the same broken person in Sam's eyes, even if no one else could. But they both did realize that the other was one of the best friends that they've ever had.

* * *

**A/N - Well, tell me what you think!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Wow Paige, two chapters in two days! How'd you manage to do that? Anyway, here goes!**

* * *

"Something bothering you?" Dean looked across the table to Sam who was currently pushing his pancakes around in their container.

Sam jerked his head up and looked around the room before he stared at Dean. "No."

"Really? You've been sitting there making your pancakes all soggy and gross for the last ten minutes." Dean sat up straighter as he put his garbage in the trash.

Sam couldn't help the blush that crept over his face when he looked down at his food. He covered the remaining food and threw it in the trash. "I'm fine."

"That's not your 'I'm fine' face that's your 'I should stop thinking so hard about stuff or my brain is going to leave my head' face."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Sam looked out the window, but Dean wouldn't give up.

"Is it about school?"

"Dean, how much longer are we staying here?" Sam turned so he was now facing Dean.

Dean was taken aback by Sam's fierce tone and stared at him before answering. "Two more weeks, maybe three."

"Don't you think that dad shouldn't be moving us around so much? I mean, what if I want to stay in a town for more than a month so I can have a real life, and not constantly try to make new friends only to move away again."

"Sam, you know that dad needs us to help him with hunts and we can't be far away from him if something happens."

"That's not fair! I don't want to hunt! I finally have some friends, and he is going to make us move to another crap town on the other side of the country!" Sam stood up and walked over to his bed to grab his backpack before he turned back around to Dean, who was also now standing.

"Do you think that I want to? Do you think that I want to see you constantly being the new kid in school? I can't do anything about it!"

"Tell dad that you can stay with me for a little longer! It's not like you don't know what you're doing in case something happens!"

Running a hand through his hair Dean stared at Sam before answering. "I can't do that Sam."

"Grow a backbone and tell dad! You know he doesn't listen to me!"

"If you weren't at each other's throats constantly, maybe he would! He knows what he's doing Sam."

"Why are you always so ready to follow dad's orders?"

"It's called being a good son! He doesn't need us fighting him every fucking step of the way!"

"If he didn't put that stupid job in front of us I wouldn't be fighting him! He could stop for one goddamn minute and realize that he is making our lives miserable instead of better I wouldn't be fighting him!"

"Do you want to catch what killed mom? Do you want to save people from having their families ripped apart by this thing? It's not all about you!"

"Why does it need to be us? Why can't we stop?"

"Because we save people. If we didn't do this, do you know how many people would be dead? Get that through your thick skull Sam!"

Dean put on his jacket and grabbed his keys. "Let's go."

Sam slung his backpack over his shoulder before he followed Dean out the door. Dean unlocked the impala but before he got in, he ran a hand over the roof. After sitting down, he threw an unnoticed glance toward Sam and began driving to the school in an uncomfortable silence. Neither Sam nor Dean offered to apologize in any argument, so why would they decide to change that now.

Pulling up to the school Dean turned to Sam, "I'll get you after detention."

"I'm going to the library. I'll call you if there are any problems." Sam exited the car without saying another word.

Dean rolled his eyes before muttering "Bitch."

Looking around, Sam walked into the school. Natalie normally came at the same time as he did, but she wasn't in the hall or outside. He walked down to the art room and poked his head in. Like he suspected, Natalie was standing at one of the tables painting. Sam sighed and walked over. She was working on another painting of the school, but it was a different style.

"Hey." Natalie barley looked up when Sam walked next to her, but she moved over a little so he could see the painting better.

"What happened to the other one?"

"Its home, I'm finishing it later, it's easier to paint there anyway. I wanted to try this." Natalie motioned to the painting before she continued.

"Neat. Anyway, do you want to go to the library tonight? I need to do some research for a paper." Sam's eyes wandered around the room, taking in every detail.

It was a large room with high ceilings. Most of the walls were covered with cabinets and student paintings (Sam saw two of Natalie's) with the exception of the back wall that was mostly windows. There was a counter by the door that had two sinks with a sign above it that said "Don't waste paint"

"I shouldn't be doing anything. So yea, after detention." Natalie looked up and grinned. "But, you should help me put this stuff away. We need to get to class soon." Natalie grabbed the brushes and paint tray that she was using and handed them to Sam. "Can you wash these? They're mine, so don't worry about putting them away."

Sam took the supplies and went to the sinks. Hoping that he was doing it right, he rinsed everything off. Natalie put the oil back into her purse before she put the painting on a shelf in the back of the room.

"I finished washing them, what do you want me to do?" Sam held up the objects and raised his eyebrows.

Natalie snatched them out of his hands and put them in her purse. "Try not to break them. They were gifts."

Sam rolled his eyes and followed Natalie into the hallway. "So you sure that you can go to the library today?"

"Yea. . . if you don't mind walking there. It's only a half mile walk there." Natalie adjusted her purse while she pulled out her notebooks.

"That's fine."

"Good, otherwise we can't get there."

Sam smiled and looked at her, "Yea, can't complain about walking. It's better than running anyway.

"Not a fan of running?"

"Sometimes, but it's kind of boring. I would rather be reading something, or writing a report."

"You like writing reports? Please do mine." Natalie smiled and looked out a window they were passing.

Sam and Natalie turned down the hallway to their class to wait in the hallway.

"It's really breezy today." Sam noticed.

"For a fall day here, I guess that it is nice. Wait until the end of the month and it will be snowing."

"Wait, really?"

Natalie sadly nodded her head before she looked at Sam. "It's ridiculous. I guess since I've had time to adjust its fine."

Sam scrunched his eyes and looked at Natalie. "Did you move here?"

"We moved here when I was nine."

Sam nodded, while he noticed that she had the same distant look on her face that she wore when she didn't want to continue talking. Sighing, Sam looked down the hallway for their absent teacher.

* * *

Sam stared at the second hand while it went around the clock. In five minutes he would be free to go. He looked around the room before setting his eyes back on the clock. Four minutes and thirty seconds. He really needed to get started on his English report but he had no time to go down to the library yet. It was still sunny out, so at least it will be a nice walk. Sam and Dean had driven by the library before. It wasn't fancy, only one floor and it looked pretty small. Not the smallest looking library that he had ever been in, though. Three minuates left. Sam began packing up his completed homework and zipped up his bag.

Natalie noticing the time did the same. The teacher dismissed them ready to leave too. Natalie walked over to Sam and set her purse on the desk in front of him.

"Ready?"

Sam rolled his eyes and stood up. "Nah, I want to stay here for another hour."

The teacher who was standing impatiently at the front of the room sighed, "I want to go home now. Sorry."

Sam grinned at Natalie who was now rolling her eyes. "Alright, let's go."

"So what do you need to do your project on?" Natalie turned to Sam as they were walking out of the building.

"My English class is doing a project on Greek gods and I need information on them."

"Oh, yea. My class is doing something on urban myths. I bet you'd be good at that."

"Why?"

"You and your brother seem to know a lot about that kind of stuff."

Sam scuffed his shoe before answering, "And?"

"Well, why do you?"

Sam looked at Natalie and grinned, "Well, tell you what. I'll answer one of your questions if you answer one of mine. If you don't want to answer, just say so."

Natalie seemed to consider the offer before she nodded. "You first."

"Why did you move here when you were younger?"

"My dad's job. Why do you move around so much?"

Sam looked back at the ground, forgetting that he let that slip out at lunch. "My dad's job moves around a lot. Why didn't your sister come pick you up after detention?"

"She goes to collage about two hours away. Does Dean go to college?"

"No, he didn't want to. What does your sister go to college for?"

"She's majoring in physics. Why do you and Dean know so much about ghosts? You knew what you were doing in the school, and you had guns with salt in them."

"Promise not to tell? Not even Dean I told you."

Natalie nodded signaling Sam to go on.

"My family hunts monsters and ghosts. Why do you like to paint so much?"

Natalie stared wide-eyed at Sam, but looked ahead again, "My mom loved to paint, so I guess it rubbed off on me. Do you want to hunt ghosts and monsters?"

"No. I want to go to college for something. Where are your parents?"

"They, uh, died. What do you want to go to college for?"

Sam looked at Natalie before he continued, "Law possibly. If you don't mind me asking, how did they?"

Natalie did a pathetic attempt at a smile before she hung her head. "No one talks to me about it, not even Jackie. I think that that's not too healthy." Natalie took a deep breath before continuing, "We were coming back from a show, an orchestra, we went to see an orchestra. Some drunken guy slammed into the front of the car, 'cuz he was going down the wrong side of the road." Natalie looked at Sam through watery eyes and continued, "I watched them carry two broken bodies away from the car. My sister was at a friend's house that night, so she wasn't there. There were officers all around me, and they got me home, I forget how. I think some family member drove out. Did you ever lose a family member?"

They walked in silence for a minute before Sam responded, "Yea, when I was six months. It was a monster or something. My dad never told us exactly what happened. There was fire, but that's all I know. How old . . . ?"

"Twelve. Is that how you guys got into hunting those things?"

Sam's stomach dropped through the ground after Natalie responded. She was twelve. Suddenly, her shutting herself off from other people, not being that happy, and the vacant look that was constantly in her eyes all made sense.

"I think so."

They walked the rest of the way to the library in silence. Sam was constantly looking over at Natalie to make sure that she was alright, but given three years to practice how to make it look like she was alright made it terribly hard to see the broken person inside of her.

"Here we go." Natalie pulled open the door and stepped inside, followed by Sam.

He was right about it being small, but not too small. There was a desk by the entrance and a small kid's area by that, and the rest of the room was being occupied with a few tables surrounded by celling high shelves and four computers in the back. Sam and Natalie placed their bags on the table and Sam went to get what he needed.

"Sorry if I made you upset." Sam offered an apology to Natalie when he sat back down.

"Don't. It's alright. It was actually kind of nice to get that off my chest. Sam, you know, you're a great friend." Natalie offered a small smile, and Sam wanted to dance when he realized that it was real.

* * *

**A/N - Well, tell me what you think! I've been trying to improve my writing, but you should drop a review and tell me what you think! I'm trying to make chapters longer too!**


	11. Chapter 11

Sighing, Sam put down the book of mythology that he was reading. Natalie looked up from her notebook and rolled her eyes.

"Don't you think that you have enough information?"

Sam looked down to the pile of books that were stacked on the table. Some were open, while others were creating a stack that was getting dangerously high. The librarian came over every couple minutes to remind them that they need to put the books back, but was only met with a silenced table.

"I just want to make sure that nothing is wrong. That's not bad, right?"

"Sure, whatever. Anyway, this 'wendigo' thing, does it eat people every year, or just every now and then?" Natalie bit the eraser of her pencil before looking at Sam.

"You should be doing your own work." Sam stared at her, but gave in "It only feeds every few years, in intervals from ten, to maybe twenty years."

Natalie continued writing in her notebook before she muttered, "Yea, but this book was written by some nerdy college professor who most likely never saw one and you know about this thing, so I might as well ask you. Why should I bother going through all these books to find something you already know?"

"So you learn something."

"Oh, I learned that you shouldn't go camping because there are monsters in the dark that eat you. Don't worry. Don't pretend that you did all of that work either, I helped!"

Sam rolled his eyes before he looked down at his note book. There was a page of facts that he found about hades. It should be more than enough to write a paper.

"Alright, I think I have everything." Sam began picking up the books to return them.

"Okay. Whatever."

Sam gathered the books into his arms and walked back over to their proper shelves. He spent most of his time in a library when he was hunting with his dad and brother, so he knew the rules of how to shelve them better than anyone. A few minutes later, he walked back over to Natalie who was staring at her notebook.

"Staring at it isn't going to make it appear on there."

Natalie looked up and closed her book. "Do you need to call Dean?"

"Yea, that would be a great idea, thanks." Sam reached over and took Natalie's phone.

Sam typed in Dean's numbers and called him. After a few rings, Dean picked up the other line.

"Hello?"

Sam could hear the sound of a bar in the background and silently prayed that he wasn't off getting wasted.

"Dean, its Sam. I'm done at the library, could you come get me?"

There was a pause where Sam heard Dean talking to someone before he answered, "Yea, give me ten minutes."

"Thanks Dean."

Sam hung up and handed the phone back to Natalie.

"Good?"

"Yea, he's coming to get me in ten minutes."

Natalie began packing her supplies back up while Sam did the same. She sat on the chair and began reading a book that she had.

"What's that?" Sam nodded towards the book, causing his bangs to fall in his face.

"It's 'The Invisible Man' by H.G. Wells."

Sam sat back down across from Natalie and raised his eyebrows. "What?"

"It's about this man, who is invisible, and he takes advantage of that by stealing from others and breaking into stores, and avoiding capture."

Sam smiled and nodded, "How did he become invisible?"

"He did science experiments to figure out how he could do it. But now he is permanently invisible, so when he eats or drinks something, you can see it."

"Well, I guess that might be a problem."

"Yea, that would be awful. Imagine if you were invisible and you could see your food being digested." Natalie stuck out her tongue and shuttered.

Sam laughed while he looked over to the door. Seeing the impala pull up to the door, he began to stand up.

"Alright, Dean is out there, so I'll see you in school tomorrow, right?"

"Yea, see you then."

"Do you need a ride home?"

"No, that's fine. I plan on being here for a while. Bye."

Sam slung his bag over his shoulder as he walked out of the library. The impala was parked by the entrance with Dean sitting inside counting money Sam figured that he won hustling pool at the bar. Throwing one last glance at Natalie sitting in the library, he climbed into the passenger seat.

"How was school today?" Dean glanced at Sam.

"Fine."

"Did you get all of your research done?"

"Yea. Unlike you, I don't sit in a library without touching a book the entire time I'm there."

"That was one time!"

Grinning, Sam looked out of the window. "Alright. If you say so."

Dean muttered something inaudible while he turned the radio up.

* * *

Natalie walked out of the library an hour after Sam left with Dean. She turned down to Main Street, not really paying attention to what she was doing. It was starting to get dark, but it was already six-thirty. Natalie pouted her lips, a sign that she was in deep thought. For the first time in a while she wasn't thinking about her parents, but she was thinking about what Sam had told her. His family hunted fucking monsters. He seemed relieved that she believed him when he told her that. Who wouldn't though? Natalie kicked a pebble off the sidewalk and watched it fly into the grass. Monsters? Most people were embarrassed that their parents were doctors, so she couldn't tell what Sam felt about it. He didn't want to hunt, but would he even get a choice? Natalie doubted that Sam would go on to the 'family business', he looked like he would have more fun at college.

Natalie climbed the stairs to the front porch and unlocked the door. While she shut the door, Natalie turned on the living room lights. There were two painting set up on easels in the center of the room with art supplies scattered around them. She walked across the living room and through the dining room to the kitchen and set her bag on the counter as she sunk into one of the chairs. Her ankle hurt, but she was too tired to get ice.

"That's what happens when you don't sleep for two days."

Looking at the small pile of dishes that she still had to wash, Natalie sighed. It wasn't fair that she had all of the responsibility. Jackie barely came home, and when she did it was a quick visit. Natalie stood up and began walking to her room. She was too tired to deal with anything that night. After getting changed, she sunk into her bed and let darkness take hold of her.

* * *

Sam tapped his pencil as he stared at the chalkboard in front of him. This was one of the only classes that he didn't have with Natalie, so he had no one to talk to. Most of the other kids already were part of their 'clicks' and didn't want to change who was in it. In five minutes he would be walking to lunch. But those five minutes couldn't be any longer. He already finished all of his work so he had nothing to do. The room was slowly becoming louder from all of the talking. Most of it was about the football play that happened last Friday. Nothing confused Sam more than that. It was already Wednesday, and no one would stop talking about it. He wasn't really into sports though, so maybe that was why. When the bell rung, Sam grabbed his books and left the room. Trying to beat the rush of students moving to their next class Sam dodged between students. Natalie would be coming from art class, so she normally arrived there first. Chris and Anna caught up to Sam as he entered the cafeteria. Isabella and Natalie were already at the table too caught up in their conversation to see Sam, Anna, and Chris.

"Hey Isabella!" Anna sat down by her, leaving Sam to sit across from Natalie and Chris to sit by Natalie.

"So, I finished all of the paintings that I was doing for art class, so I don't know what I'm going to do next. I still have some pictures from the school, but I already did a few of them. What do you guys think?"

Chris and Sam exchanged confused glances before Sam turned to Natalie. "You do realize that you are the only one that knows how to do art, right?"

Natalie grinned and ducked her head.

"Are we going to get lunch or what?" Anna began to get up, soon followed by the rest of the group.

"No, I was thinking maybe that I should do a portrait but I also want to do scenery." Natalie walked between Chris and Sam to try to get them to answer her.

"Do a portrait." Chris sighed.

"Of who? I think that I might do the tenth doctor, just because his hair is a lot of fun to draw."

"I bet you want to do him." Chris muttered causing Sam to laugh.

"Seriously? Grow up!"

"You didn't deny it!"

Natalie stared at Chris then turned to Sam. "Help me out here!"

Sam raised his hands in a sign that he won't get involved.

"Rude!" Natalie rolled her eyes and walked forward to get her food.

"I don't get who the doctor is." Sam whispered to Chris.

"There is a show that the Doctor is a time traveling alien that saves planets. It's pretty good."

Sam grabbed his tray while he continued through the line. "So. . . is it some sort of sci-fi show?"

"Yea. It's neat. The special effects have gotten so much better."

Sam shrugged while he followed Chris out to the table. Maybe he could see if there was a way he could see some episodes. It sounded pretty good.

"So Natalie, what do you think about Doctor Who?"

Natalie perked up at the mention of the show and smiled. "It's amazing! It's about love, courage, and friendship. You need to really think about the basics. The first season is with the ninth Doctor. He regenerates instead of dying, so this is his ninth body."

"How long has that show been going on?"

The table groaned when Sam asked that question. He looked around and shot a questioning look at Chris.

"She can go all lunch talking about this."

He turned back to Natalie and motioned for her to explain. "It's right after the time war, so he is depressed. He basically killed his entire race to end this war."

"Sounds . . . pleasant." Anna's voice was practically dripping in sarcasm.

"Well, it's not like he had a choice!"

"Sure."

The table ate in silence, only talking when someone wanted to trade food. After everyone finished eating, Natalie stood up.

"Guys, I need to go to my next class. I didn't understand the homework, and Missus Kline said to come before class if we had any questions." She grabbed her tray and turned to Sam, "See you in detention."

Sam watched he walk away, and then turned back to the table.

"Dude, you are the fucking greatest thing to happen to Natalie." Chris exclaimed.

"Uh – what?"

"This is the most I've seen her joke around, laugh, and smile since, her, uh, parents. . ." Chris scratched the back of his neck.

"I know what happened, yea. You guys just need to treat her like a normal human being and stop worrying about 'breaking' her."

Isabella smiled, "But really, thank you."

Sam looked back where Natalie was walking before turning to Isabella, "Yea. . ."

* * *

Sam slid into the passenger seat of the impala after detention. Dean was tapping the steering wheel to 'Back in Black'. Sam rolled his eyes as he threw his backpack into the back seat.

"Ready?" Dean turned to Sam.

"Yea."

Dean pulled out of the parking lot and began driving to the motel. "Anything happen in school?"

"No, not much."

"What about Natalie? I haven't heard about her since the school accident."

"She's fine. Great, actually." Sam looked out of the window before continuing, "She doesn't have parents. They died a few years ago."

Dean nodded, "That's life. It's not fair."

Sam shrugged as Dean pulled up to the motel that they were currently staying in.

"So, what's the plan for dinner Sammy?"

"Burgers? I don't really care."

Dean raised his eyebrows "Sam not eating a salad for once. Is the world ending?"

Sam pushed passed him as he entered the motel. "Shut up jerk.

"Bitch. Anything else you want me to grab when I'm out?"

"No. Thanks."

"Don't leave the motel room. I'll be back in ten."

Sam rolled his eyes at Dean's order. Where was he supposed to go? He sat down on the couch and picked up the book that he was reading before. Natalie was right. The Invisible Man was a great book.

After about ten minutes, Dean came back with the burgers and fries. Neither one wanted to go out anywhere because it was almost seven already. Dean decided to try and find a good movie on the motel television. After failing, he decided to watch some terrible horror movie that made Sam laugh more than be scared.

Sam stood up to grab a change of clothing "Dude, I'm going to sleep now."

Dean looked up from where he was and nodded. While Sam got changed, he noticed that the bruises were starting to look a lot better than what they looked like last week.

"Night Sammy."

Sam rolled his eyes as he threw the blankets on top of himself. A few hours later, he heard Dean salt the room and climb into the other bed.

* * *

Sam slowly became aware of his surroundings. There were two people talking, but he couldn't quite hear what they were saying. Soon the world came into focus and Sam sat up.

" – Packed at ready by noon."

"That's not fair. We just got here!"

Sam's eyes widened when he saw who Dean was arguing with.

"Dad?"

* * *

**A/N - Alright, thank you for reading! Tell me what you think in the reviews!**


	12. Chapter 12

**I am so sorry about the long wait! Anyway, this story may be coming to a close in the next few chapters. Thank you to everyone who has read this and followed/favorited so far!**

Sam looked at John before asking "Why are you here? I thought that you were going to be out for a month on some hunt."

John looked back at Dean before answering, "It was wrapped up a lot quicker than we thought it would be."

Sam flung the blankets off and stood up. "So now what?"

John hated the fact that Sam was already taller than both him and Dean. Sam glared at John before moving to grab some clothing.

"Where are you going?"

"Shower."

Dean watched the exchange between Sam and John, hoping he didn't need to separate them.

"Don't worry about that right now, we are leaving at noon, and you need to help get the room together."

Sam raised his eyebrows before he shifted to the other foot. "Oh, are we? We've been here for, what, less than a week, and you want us to pack up and run out of here so you can go hunt something else?"

"Bobby has a hunt that he needs help with. Then we'll stay put for a month or two."

Dean couldn't help but notice that John was raising his voice and knew that if Sam didn't stop soon he would completely loose it.

"That's what you said when we came here!"

"Yes, but we need to go. Bobby's is a day drive from here and that is too far away for me to go and leave you here."

"Dean can stay with me! I can take care of myself too!"

Deciding that it was a good time to come into the conversation, Dean stepped forward. "What if we just stay here until after school Friday? We need time to get Sam's papers together again.

John looked between both of his sons "This is ridicules!"

Neither boy said anything while they looked at John.

"Fine. I can see if Bobby can wait a few days. If not, be ready by noon." He turned and walked out of the motel room while he fished his phone out of his pocket, slamming the door behind him.

Dean watched as Sam slammed the bathroom door close. Hell, he couldn't blame him. John shows up less than two weeks after dropping them off in this dump town and demands that they leave everything that they started to come across the country only to do it again. He sighed while he began to pick up some of the garbage that had accumulated over the few days. He would rather that he had to clean now and have time then to rush everything later.

John came back into the room a few minutes later. "He said that it could wait. Mostly wanted me there for research."

Dean looked at John before hesitantly asking, "So can we stay?"

"No, I don't like it here. There aren't any hunters in a reasonable distance to come and help of something happened. We're still leaving Friday."

Sam opened the bathroom door, already dressed. Dean figured that it had something to do with the fact that he still had faint bruising all over his back. They already made a promise to each other to not tell John about the old school accident.

"Dean, don't just stand there, go grab us some breakfast."

Dean looked like he was going to say something, but decided against it. He grabbed the keys from the table by the door as he walked out.

Sam made eye contact with John but he quickly broke it. He grabbed his backpack from beside his bed and walked over to the table. While he was pulling out his book John walked over. Sam tried his best to ignore him, but when he sat down across from him to 'read the paper' he put the book back into his bag and he looked up. John noticed and put the paper down.

"What?"

"Sam, just listen to me. It's not safe for me to leave you and Dean alone here when I am over a day drive away."

While he leaned back into his chair, Sam questioned, "What about the people we might have met here? Are we just supposed to drop them and move on?"

"You can't have friends in this lifestyle Sam! You know that!"

"That's not fair!"

John stood up followed by Sam. "What's more important? Saving families from being torn apart by monsters, or you making friends that you'll lose contact with the minute you leave school?"

"There are more important things than hunting these things!"

"And what's that Sam?"

There was a pregnant pause broken by Dean coming back into the motel carrying doughnuts and two cups of coffee. He noticed the tension in the room but tried not to call attention to it.

"Sam grab a doughnut and let's go." Dean nodded toward the door as he put the bag down.

Sam rolled his eyes after he got up but didn't say anything. Dean followed Sam out to the Impala.

While they climbed into the car, Dean stated, "Get anything on my baby and you will be cleaning it until there is not a stain in sight."

Sam closed the door while he rolled his eyes. "Jerk."

"Bitch."

* * *

Natalie and Sam were walking to the library after detention again. Sam wanted to check that his paper was accurate, but it was mostly because he didn't want to go back to the motel room with Dean and John. Natalie didn't complain about going, which was good because Sam didn't want to go alone.

"So, Natalie. My dad is back in town."

Natalie looked up from the ground to stare at Sam. "Oh. Are you leaving?"

"Yea. After School Friday."

Natalie nodded before she looked back at the ground. "Is there a reason that you're going so soon?"

"Just a hunt my dad's friend needs some help at. He doesn't want to leave Dean and me here alone with the closest hunter he knows over seven hours away."

"Yea. I get that."

Sam pulled on the straps of his backpack before he turned to look at Natalie. Her brown hair was blowing behind her the slight breeze. Sam really wished that there was a way that he could stay longer. Natalie was finally being happier, but he knew that some happiness was still forced. Chris had told him that she would go weeks without talking to anyone, but then the next day she would be fine. It was a pattern that she had reluctantly fallen into. When he came it was one of those times.

"Do you think that there is a chance that you could visit?"

Sam knew the answer. It was no, but before he could think, his mouth was saying, "Yea. Maybe. Not right away. When we are somewhere nearby I'll see."

Natalie nodded her head, "So no?"

"No. Probably not."

They walked into the library. The building was warm, a huge difference than the quickly dropping temperatures outside. Deciding on the table furthest from the door, Natalie and Sam put their bags down.

"So, how's stuff at home going?"

Natalie sat down before answering, "Fine. Nothing much, you know."

"Maybe we could see if there is a way that we could stay another week so-" Sam began.

"No, it's fine. I have other family friends that make sure that I'm fine. It's not my first year alone, you know."

"What?"

"The minute that my sister graduated two years ago I barley saw her. I think that I've seen her more times this year so far than last year combined."

Sam walked in shocked silence. Dean would never leave him alone when he was a freshman. Hell, he barely did now.

"It's fine Sam, really." Natalie reassured Sam.

He could tell that it wasn't fine. Her eyes still did their blank 'I don't want anyone to know what I really mean' thing. Sam just wished that there was a way that he could stay longer. After a few minutes of silence, Sam spoke up.

"Can you read my report? Tell me if anything doesn't make sense."

Natalie nodded before she dug into her backpack. "Same with you."

They exchanged papers and began reading. Natalie finished reading and put the paper down. Sam followed suit soon after. The only talking between them was correcting the papers. The library slowly began to empty after Sam and Natalie were there for a while. Dean told Sam that he would come around six.

Sam looked up from the paper he was currently rewriting. Dean walked into the library, but stopped to talk to one of the workers. Rolling his eyes, Sam began to put his stuff back together.

"Sammy! Hey Natalie!" Dean strutted over to the table.

"Hello Dean." Natalie greeted.

"So you ready?" Dean asked Sam.

"Yea. Just about."

Turning back toward Natalie, Dean asked, "If you need a ride home, I can give you one."

"No, I'm fine. Thank you."

"You sure? It's getting pretty cold out."

Natalie shrugged before motioning to the jacket slung over the back of her chair. "I'll be fine. It's just a five minute walk, at most."

Dean nodded. "Alright. See you later Natalie."

"Bye Sam, Dean." Natalie flashed a quick smile before turning back to the paper she was rewriting.

Sam waved before he followed Dean out of the building. Dean walked around to the driver's side before he unlocked the car.

"What's the deal with dinner?" Sam questioned as he slid into the passenger seat.

"Chinese. We're picking it up now." Dean started the car up.

He patted the dashboard before putting it into reverse.

"It's not a healthy obsession that you have with this car."

Dean looked offended before he soothed the car, "Don't worry baby, he doesn't mean it."

"Dude, that is so weird!" Sam laughed.

Dean grinned as he looked at Sam. "Whatever."

The impala pulled up to 'Pearl House' the one Chinese restaurant within five miles of the town. Sam and Dean got out of the car and began walking toward the door. The restaurant was the part of a plaza with other shops and stores on either side of it. Sam followed Dean inside. They both walked toward the counter where a man was standing.

"Uh, yea. Order under Smith." Dean flashed a smile before he reached into his pocket.

"That will be seventeen dollars and thirty-seven cents."

Dean handed the worker a credit card. Sam rolled his eyes when he saw the name on it. When the worker went to the beck he whispered, "Really?"

Dean just grinned when the worker came back out with their bag. "Chopsticks are in the bag. Have a nice day."

Dean took the bag and walked out of the restaurant.

"So Sam, dad is at the motel. Don't try to pick a fight with him, alright?"

Sam rolled his eyes as he slid into the car. "If he doesn't start anything."

Dean gave the bag to Sam. "Sam."

"Fine."

"I mean it Sammy."

"I got it Dean."

Dean reached over to turn on the radio. He tapped his hands to the beat of Metallica as he drove back to the motel. He pulled up to the parking space next to John's truck and shut off the car. Sam climbed out of the car after Dean. He walked to the door that was in the process of being opened by John.

"Hey Sam."

"Hi."

He placed the bag on the table before he reached in and took out one of the lo-main containers. Dean grabbed the other one and eggrolls before he threw himself on the couch. The Winchesters ate in silence with the only noises coming from the television. After Sam finished eating he threw the container away, he sat back down at the table and pulled out the paper that he was writing.

"What's the subject?" John asked.

"English. We're doing Greek gods."

John nodded his head in approval. "When's it due?"

"Tomorrow."

Sam looked down at the paper that Natalie corrected. There were a few crossed out sentences and arrows that pointed where a new paragraph should start. John looked at it from across the table. He raised his eyebrows when he saw the corrections.

"Who helped?"

"A friend."

John stared at Sam before he got back up to clean up the Chinese food. Sam continues writing as he avoided any more attempts at a conversation. Dean and John eventually gave up trying to talk to him and turned their attention to a black and white movie playing on the television. Sam knew that Dean was doing that so John wouldn't continue bothering him. After Sam finished the report (that was now five pages) he packed his backpack up. He joined Dean on the couch to finish watching the movie. John was sitting on Dean's bed writing something in his journal.

"Got bored with the movie." Dean whispered when he noticed Sam staring at John.

Sam nodded as he turned his attention back to the movie. It was a rerun of Godzilla, but he didn't complain. When the movie finished around ten, Sam got up to get changed.

"Wait. Where is everyone sleeping?" Dean looked at John.

"I'll be here. Dean take Sam's bed. Sam, take the couch."

"That's not fair! I'm taller than Dean." Sam shouted from the bathroom.

"Then you can sleep on the floor." John responded.

Dean rolled his eyes. This was going to be a fun night.


	13. Chapter 13

Sam looked around the motel room that he and Dean called 'home' for the past two weeks. It was completely spotless. The garbage that had piled up around the room during their stay was already in the dumpster out back. The only things that were in the room were Sam and Dean's bags, but they were already packed. Sam looked down at his backpack and sighed. Today was his last day. Dean already got all of Sam's papers together so he could transfer to whatever school he ended up near next.

"You coming Sammy?" Dean looked back into the room.

"Yea, coming." Sam picked up his bag and headed to the car.

"Dad and I will get the other bags before we check out. Don't worry about them." Dean looked over to Sam who was now sulking in his seat.

"Whatever Dean."

Dean started up the Impala and drove out of the parking lot. It was an overcast day with some occasional rainstorms. Sam grabbed his bag before he opened the door.

"Don't forget I'm out of detention at four today." Sam informed his brother before he slammed the door shut.

Sam began walking toward the doors of the school. He wasn't really paying attention so when Natalie ran up beside him he jumped.

"You alright Sam?"

Sam looked at Natalie before responding. "Fine."

"You suck at hiding your emotions if that's what you're trying to do."

Sam glanced at her before he walked into the school.

"I didn't mean it like that, but you should cheer up! It's your last day here."

"That's why I'm in a bad mood."

"Well suck it up buttercup you are going to be happy today." Natalie walked in front of him before she turned around.

Sam rolled his eyes before he continued walking to first period.

Natalie followed him into the room and set her books down at her desk. "Cheer up though! Just think, two more years and you'll be able to do what you want Sam."

"My dad would rather I go into the family business than go to college if that's what you meant."

"And are you really going to listen to him? I mean really Sam, I can see a dysfunctional family from miles away."

Sam set his books down next to Natalie before he continued, "You don't know my dad."

"It seems that I don't need to."

They were interrupted when a tall woman walked into the room and introduced herself as the substitute for the day. "Nothing was left to teach so I'm guessing that you're going to be watching this?" She held up 'Sandlot' and the entire class groaned.

Sam leaned over his desk, "Why is that a problem?"

"Because everyone has seen that fucking movie at least three times this year."

"Oh." Sam shifted back into his seat. "Is there a reason that he plays it all of the time?"

"Expect for that he doesn't want to teach, I don't think so."

Sam nodded before he turned his attention to the movie that was just beginning to play.

"Does anything else ever get played?"

"If you don't count some movie that we watched a few weeks ago about Yellowstone and the civil war movie that we watched last Monday, no."

"Was it a good movie?"

Natalie laughed before she turned back toward Sam, "It was horrible and looked like it was filmed with a potato."

Sam raised an eyebrow at Natalie. "What?"

"The picture was incredibly shaky and bad quality."

"I didn't know that you were a movie expert."

Natalie reached over and lightly punched Sam, "Shut up."

"Uhh make me." He replied in a mocking tone.

The rest of the class continued with Sam and Natalie mocking each other before finally being told to shut it by the sub. The next four periods passed with Sam turning in his books and any other supplies that he borrowed from the school over the past two weeks. When the bell rung to signal that fifth period was over, Sam rushed to the cafeteria.

When he arrived a few minutes later he was greeted with Chris, Anna, Isabella and Natalie wearing party hats sitting at the table with cupcakes.

"Happy last day Sam!"

Sam grinned as he sat down. "When did you guys think of this?"

"Yesterday. Natalie told us that you were moving with your dad's business again and we wanted to say bye." Isabella shrugged.

Sam looked at Natalie and smiled. She didn't lie to Isabella, but she didn't tell the truth either. Dean would be proud.

"Thanks guys. Really."

"Well the party's over. Let's go get food." Chris stood up and the table followed his lead.

"So, where are you guys going next?" Anna walked up beside Sam.

"South Dakota."

"That's like a day's journey away!"

Sam shrugged as he walked to the end of the line. It would consist of Dean playing his mullet rock bands and Sam trying to sleep through it. It always did.

"So, any reason that you guys only were hear for two weeks?" Anna crossed her arms as she tilted her head to the side.

"Just that my dad's business travels a lot, so we never really stay in one place for that long."

"God, that sucks."

Natalie seemed to appear out of nowhere as she tried to steer the conversation away from Sam's family. "Does anyone know what's for lunch?"

Anna turned around to Natalie before answering, "Breakfast for lunch."

"Wow Sam! You're in for a treat today!" Natalie exclaimed, her voice practically dripping in sarcasm.

"It's not that bad, really." Anna shrugged before she turned to get her lunch.

Sam grinned as he looked over Anna's shoulder. "Not bad? That looks like –"

Natalie elbowed Sam in the ribs before he could continue. "Don't say it."

"It looks great Natalie." Sam tried to put on a smile before she elbowed him again.

The trio left the lunch line and sat back down at the table. It was partially occupied by Isabella and Chris, who were already eating their lunches.

"Took you guys long enough." Isabella muttered.

"Well, that's what happens when you don't run to the line." Anna sighed as she put down her tray.

"Go big or go home."

Natalie laughed as she put her tray down, earning her confused stares from the table.

"Are you high?" Chris whispered.

"What, no." She looked around the table and continued, "I'm great actually. Better than I've been in a while."

"That's good." Anna smile and began eating.

The table was silent for a while as they all ate their lunches.

"Alright. I'm done." Natalie looked down at her tray as she stood up.

"Yea, me too." Isabella stood up to go throw away her trash with Natalie.

When they sat back down, they each grabbed one of the cupcakes that Anna had brought in. After Sam finished eating, he grabbed one too.

"These are great Anna!"

"Thanks, I cooked them last night." Anna beamed.

"Nice." Sam smiled back as he finished the cupcake.

Eventually, the table got up to go to their next classes. Sam said goodbye to Anna, Chris, and Isabella, because he wouldn't see them later. He felt bad with the rushed goodbyes, but if he waited any longer, it would be harder for him to go.

* * *

Sam sat in the detention room as he stared at the clock. There were only ten minutes left. In eleven minutes he would be in the impala so they could go to Bobby's house. Sam let out a sigh of relief when he remembered that John wouldn't be in the same car. He bought a black truck when Dean turned eighteen so he could drive when John wasn't home. When they drove places it was better because John wasn't constantly looking at Sam and asking why he couldn't just drop everything and move on.

Sam looked over to Natalie who was doodling in her notebook. Sam really shouldn't say doodling because it was more of a portrait that she was drawing. Looking back at the clock, Sam saw that there were only seven minutes left. Sam didn't have anything with him besides the library book that he finished reading this morning.

Natalie looked over to him and smiled. She saw how mad Sam was about needing to leave so soon. She didn't blame him. After only being somewhere for two weeks and then being told to go somewhere across the country with days' notice would make anyone mad.

There were three minutes left when Sam looked back at the clock. He decided to put the bag in his bag and put the bag on his desk. He didn't want to leave the school. He wanted to stay and see the paintings that Natalie never showed him because there wasn't enough time. It wasn't fair.

"Alright, you hooligans, you can go a few minutes early today, just because I need to be somewhere." The teacher stood up and grabbed his bag. "Out before I change my mind and make you stay longer!"

Natalie and Sam were the last two students to leave the room. They walked out of the school doors and Sam immediately saw John's black truck and Dean's impala parked near the back of the parking lot.

"So this is bye then?" Natalie looked at Sam and did a lopsided grin.

"Yea. I guess so." Sam returned the grin before he reached into his bag. "Do me a favor if it isn't too much to ask, could you drop this book off at the library?"

Sam gave the book to Natalie, his hands lingering on her's longer than needed.

"Bye Sam. If you ever need anything, just come by." Natalie looked down at the book. "The invisible man? Did you like it?"

"It was great. Everything was great." Sam smiled one more time before he pulled her into a hug. "Bye Natalie."

He reluctantly let go of her and began walking toward the impala. He saw John give him a questioning look from the truck, but didn't say anything. After he shut the door, Sam nodded to dean. "Let's go."

* * *

**A/N- Thank you to everyone who has taken time to read I'd Rather Deal With Ghosts Than People. It was so much fun to write and I hope that you all enjoyed reading. I am planing to write an AU later, but I don't know how soon that will be up. It will be completely unrelated to this story though. Thank you again! **


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